New Orleanians deserve a safe city. But solutions that only prioritize reactionary measures do little to address the root causes of violence. Blindly returning to mass incarceration tactics that are proven failures won’t do anything to prevent or solve crime. Sweeping one-size-fits-all policies and strategies that fail to heed those lessons do our community a disservice.
Rather than reacting out of panic, city leaders must be courageous in rethinking prior failed strategies and work toward an intersection where accountability and supportive restoration meet. In searching for solutions, we must be sure we don’t further destabilize families, break down social structures and discourage a community eager for meaningful solutions.
New Orleans is not unique in the current concerns. Crime rates have risen across the country since the beginning of the pandemic. But the data remains stark in the deep South. What states with higher crime rates tend to have in common is an overwhelmingly poor population and a history of oppression, slavery and injustice. It is not because their leaders are seeking reforms of the legal system.
The solution to the concerns of our community is not a return to the mass incarceration playbook of the past. The ‘arrest and incarcerate first, ask questions and seek justice later’ approach not only drastically increased the prison population, it radically destabilized communities and widened the inequities in low income communities of color. The result? New Orleans was simultaneously the incarceration and murder capital of the nation.
As public defenders, we represent almost 90% of every person arrested in New Orleans. How does someone get a public defender? They must live in poverty under the federal guidelines. Many of our clients have employment but a living wage remains out of reach. Many struggle with a lack of access to safe, affordable housing. Even more suffer with mental illness and/or substance use. Social services remain insufficient and difficult to access, even more so for those in crisis. The ongoing pandemic and hurricanes, coupled with New Orleans’ history of injustice exacerbate generations of trauma.
We cannot incarcerate our way out of crime. We have tried it. We know it does not work. It is foolish to believe a lack of broken windows policing and draconian sentencing is to blame for the rise in crime.
